Nightmare

About a week ago, I had a really bad dream involving murderous, vindictive orcas and humpback whales. I guess I was whimpering or something in my sleep because after I woke myself up with a loud gasp and fighting for air, I looked around the room wildly because I had that terrible, strange feeling that someone was in the room. Incidentally, I forgot to lock my door the night before so if there really was someone in the room, it wouldn't have surprised me.

Anyway, I kept sensing that something was at least staring at me so I put on my glasses and peered around only to have my eyes land on Cooper who was standing on his hind legs with his front paws on my bed staring at me like, "...hi?" It really freaked me out because he was staring so intently at my face like, "were you having a bad dream? You were making weird noises so I decided to come and stare at you until you woke up. It was all a dream...go back to sleep now...it was all a dream..."

Ugh, so glad Cooper can't talk...

Slip and fall

We got some snow over the weekend which semi-melted, which then froze into sheets of murderous black ice all over the sidewalk. You would think living downtown, someone would at least shovel a path on most the sidewalks but alas, I am woefully wrong. Cooper and I must carefully pick our way through treacherous patches of death.

I always thought animals would have better grip on the ice; maybe it's their toenails or the fact that their weight seems to be more evenly distrubuted on four paws than my two clumsy feet, but I guess assuming things is bad. Cooper always joyfully runs into the snow banks without worrying about the slippery ice while I try to hang on for dear life without being pulled down and rolling my ankles.

Anyway, while Cooper was walking merrily along and I was walking with my head down trying to take baby steps, Cooper slipped on a patch of ice and skidded into the side of a building. It was the funniest thing I have ever seen and the look of shock and fear in Cooper's eyes as he was slipping was hilarious. True, I am a mean dog owner for laughing at his downfall but that's what he gets for being cocky on the ice. And besides, he was fine. Nothing was bruised but his ego and that needs to be taken down a few pegs in my opinion.

After I laughed at him, Cooper refused to look at me and I could tell he was dying of embarassment until I hit a patch of ice, slid a few feet while yanking on his leash. He actually stopped, looked over his shoulder with a look of concern on his face. Can you believe that? It's Cooper for the love of god, half the time he doesn't even bother getting off the bed when I come home. Anyway, the look of concern on his face melted my heart. You can almost hear him say, "Oh jeez, are you ok? Man, it is slippery out here! Let's take our time..."

Daylight savings

Now that it's daylight savings and winter is upon us, it is getting darker more quickly. I don't like walking Cooper when it's dark out because I live in a somewhat unsafe neighborhood and although there are people outside at 5:30, it's dark and scary and I get easily intimidated. I get home around 4:30 and I try my best to give Cooper at least a half hour walk.

This is not long enough for him. Cooper has become destructive in the house while I'm at work, sleeping, or at the gym. He normally chews and tears up trash, but it's gotten to the point where he will hurl his body at the bathroom door to get into the trash and when I come home, there's tissue and everything else scattered all over my place. I also worry that he eats some of the trash and it might cause a blockage.

I leave bully sticks out for him to chew on as well as those teeth cleaning chews. He goes through them quickly and loses interest. I try playing with him inside the house to burn off some energy. If he would actually run, I would run him around the block once or twice to really get him going. Instead, I try to walk as briskly as possible, sometimes even dragging Mr. Man behind me as I try to persuade him to exercise instead of tearing/eating/chewing on things inside my place.

Luckily, he hasn't gone for shoes anymore. He leaves all the electrical cords alone. He has left my iPod alone (and trust me, if he chewed that up Cooper would be dead). It just pisses me off when he eats bathroom trash. Stupid, stupid Cooper...